Employers struggle to preserve pharmacy benefit

In an effort to protect the pharmacy benefit for employees, companies are using a variety of techniques to manage expenditures. A survey by Hewitt Associates shows that nearly 50 percent of employers that offer pharmacy benefits have added, or are in the process of adding, a third-tier copayment, with the top tiers generally including "brand-name drugs with the highest retail prices." Employers are less enthusiastic about adding more than three tiers. Hewitt surveyed more than 600 major employers with 2,000 or more employees each.